The Doctor's Daughter
by PagebyPaige
Summary: Months after the Loki attack, Bruce's daughter decides it's time to reveal herself to him. Slight AU.
1. Chapter 1

She stood outside Stark Tower, looking up the many floors. She took a deep breath and held her jacket close to her, pushing through the doors to escape the cold New York snow. "Welcome to Stark Tower" a disembodied voice with a British accent chimed. Heather jumped, cursing under her breath. She shook snow out of her hair with her left hand, and proceeded on through the entrance of the building.

"Hello?" She called.

"Are you here for Mr. Stark?" The same British voice replied.

"Uhm…" She pulled out the paper in her coat pocket, searching for the name. "I'm looking for a Dr. Banner."

"That'd be level 21, experiment labs. The elevator is to your left."

"Thank you," She smiled as she bounced to the elevator.

"You're quit welcome Ms. Banner." Heather froze with her finger on the call button. She twirled around, forgetting there was no one there. "How'd you know me?" She asked the air, but the man didn't reply. Heather blinked a few times before slowly sliding back to the elevators.

**DING!**

She stepped onto the elevator, absent mindedly running into someone who was getting off. It was a tall man with short, messy brunette hair. He was wearing sunglasses and had a bow in his hand. Heather gulped. _Why would someone just have a bow? _She shook it off and pressed the 21 button, turning to the glass wall in the elevator.

The view was of beautiful New York City. Well… of reconstructing beautiful New York City. The damage from the Loki attack was pretty intense, and every day for the last couple of months has been a small dent in the clean-up. Stark got to work quickly with his tower, or so it seemed, since it was the only complete building in the whole New York City. Debris still covered the sidewalks, pushed over so cars could get by. New York cursed Loki for what he had done. _Everyone but... well, me. _

Heather was not some sadist who agreed with Loki, but she was someone who would have never been the same if it hadn't happened.

_**Two months ago.**_

"_Heather, I need you to come home now. Something is happening in New York City, some kind of Alien attack." My mom nearly cried to me on the phone. I had been staying in New York City with my friend and her mother for the summer. September was rearing its ugly head when an alert hit New York, an alert that we all shrugged off. "Heather, please." She begged. I rolled my eyes._

"_Aliens aren't going to attack us, and if they do, we have Iron Man right there, he'll save us." Without waiting for my mom to talk, I ended the call. She needed some time to calm down. Maybe I'd call her tomorrow and tell her I survived. I turned on the television, just to be in the know, when I heard a giant boom outside my house. I rushed over to the window and nearly passed out at what I saw. Buildings were ruined, the street looked un-walk able. I saw a red stream that unmistakingly blood. Quickly, I closed the curtains and ran back to the couch, turning on the television. Iron Man streaked across the screen in a red and gold line, and Thor (I watched the newscast from New Mexico last year) was there too. This is bad. There was a guy at the top of a skyscraper, attractive, with short brown hair, shooting arrows at the aliens. Someone I didn't recognize. There was another person she didn't remember, a redhead, from the looks of it, no powers, just training. Next to her was… Captain America? I thought he was dead in the 1940's. It must take a lot to make five superheroes to take this guy down. _

_That's when I saw him. Big and green, unmistakable, the Hulk, my father… Bruce Banner. After falling off the face of the earth, I found him, or rather, he found me. He's in New York City. He's here. _

**DING!**

The elevator brought Heather back to reality. She glanced up at the floor number. "_21._" She sighed, walked through the open doorway. The lab was very… white, y'know, aside from all the Iron Man suits on the wall. She searched around looking for her father. She ran her hand against the smooth surface of the tables and walked towards the man in the lab coat. On the way over, her hand caught on a test tube. It fell and shattered on the floor. "Move away from it!" a man yelled at her. She quickly jumped back, throwing off her shoes so the liquid didn't seep through to her feet. She watched him, who she now recognized as Bruce, clean up the spill. "That could've been bad." He chuckled and held out a hand. She took his hand in hers and shook firmly. That's when she first saw his face. He was worn, with graying brown hair and soft brown eyes. Yet his eyes were tired and held pain in them. She wanted to tell him right there that he was her father, she wanted to hug him and cry and tell him everything about her. But no, she had to do this delicately.

"What brings you here, ma'am?" He asked, retracting his hand.

"Oh, uh. I come with news for you." He raised an eyebrow.

"Oh?"

"Your, uh, friend, um, Sarah," She coughed a bit, holding back tears.

"Sarah Franklin?" He asked.

"Yes, well… She recently died of cancer."

"Oh my, that's terrible."

"Yes, well… she had a daughter…"

"I'm aware."

"Who was also… your daughter." His eyes widened.

"M- My daughter? What happened to her?"

"Well, she is being sent here, to live with you."

"I... uh oh," He sighed. "I don't think that's a good idea, though. You see, I have a... a condition, that isn't very… safe around anyone." He scratched at the back of his head. "A daughter, huh?" Heather nodded.

"Well, I'm sorry, but Sarah can't just dump a child on me. Especially now." Heather's heart snapped in two as tears began streaming down her face. She raced towards the elevator, wiping away at her face.

"I never got your name!" Bruce shouted at her.

"Heather. Heather Banner!" She screamed as the elevator doors closed.


	2. Chapter 2

"Heather Banner…" The words rang through her head repeatedly. She pressed her back against the smooth metal wall of the elevator, slowly descending down to the floor. The conversation she just had with her father had left her broken, heart ripped out. She blinked rapidly, every few seconds, to keep the tears back. Eventually they brimmed to her waterline, and spilled out onto her cheek. She kicked her legs out in a fit of rage, pounding the floor with her hands. More tears formed, dropping onto her denim jeans and leaving a little watermark. She looked up at the wall for a few seconds before dropping her gaze to the floor, and then again to her hands. The same nail polish she had worm when she arrived to NYC was now halfway up her nail, due to it growing out. She was stalling, avoiding confrontation from Bruce. She knew he was outside the elevator doors, waiting for her to come out and talk to him.

* * *

Bruce placed his hand on the elevator doors. He knew she was still in there, he could hear her sobbing. He eyed the call button. _That's a good way to get your daughter to hate you before you even learn her age. _He let out a sigh of defeat. _I'll just wait for her to calm down and come out herself. _

* * *

"_Ugh." Heather groaned, groggily, as she slowly opened her eyes. The room was white, like blinding white, it gave off a hospital feel, but Heather knew exactly where she was. The science labs, she knew them all too well, her stepfather having worked there. Her arms were strapped down, as were her legs. She struggled until there was no point in it. The leather straps would cut into her arm, and she was sure there would be scars soon. She cried for help many times, but her pleas went ignored. She laid there for two straight days before someone came in. They offered her water, to which she graciously accepted, and the forced some food down her throat, before quickly exiting. It seemed like ages before she heard the door again. A man, roughly thirty, walked into the room, slapping rubber gloves on. "Are you ready?" He purred with his British accent, but Heather only scowled at him. "Oh deary, you wouldn't want to make the person handling your injection angry. Something could…" He grinned "Go wrong." Heather's face immediately went straight. _

"_Injection?" She rasped. Not talking for a couple days really did a number on your vocal cords. The man simply nodded and grinned evilly; holding a large (painful) needle, fill to the brim with a deep, royal blue colour. She gasped, her eyes widening, as she used all her might to try and move her arm. The man became annoyed with her, hitting her arm with a heavy paperweight, causing it to fall like a dead weight. He then grabbed the needle again, pushing it closer to her skin. She swallowed, sweated, and panicked. She wriggled and squirmed and let out a series of whimpers, which only excited the mad man more. He grinned insanely, even expressing a quick chuckle before he thrust the syringe forward._

"**NO!" **She screamed, waking up in a cold sweat, Bruce was over her, worry furrowed his brow.

"Heather?!" He cupped her cheek with his hand, looking into her brown eyes- his brown eyes. "Heather, can you hear me?" Her bottom lip quivered as she blindly searched his face. Her mind wasn't processing thoughts, her eyes weren't working. She felt drugged. Bruce tightened his grip on his daughter as her body went limp.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, sorry for being latee. I had a button of essay work, and I managed to get a little time today, but only a little. Hence why it's only 608 words. But, hey. 608 words is more than none. **

**Review! It's motivation!**


	3. Chapter 3

A familiar white light blinded her as she slowly woke up. Her eyes fluttered adjusting to the brightness. She took a deep breath and cracked her neck. "Whoa." Heather gasped, as the blood pressure in her head dropped dramatically. She reached up a hand to her head quickly; knocking over the IV she was hooked up to. Heather looked at her arm, puzzled, and then to the other. Slowly, Heather adverted her gaze to the walls. They were shockingly white, everything was. Her bottom lip began to quiver, as it does when she is scared, as she realized where she might be.

_A hospital? _She examined the room, looking for all possible ways to escape. _What happened to Bruce? _Suddenly she heard the door open, instantly feigning sleep. The man walked over to her bedside, looking at the fallen IV. "Ah shit." He murmured under his breath, bending over to pick it up. Heather's eyes shot open as she pulled the needle from her arm. She slammed her elbow down on the man's back, making him fall to the floor. Heather spun around onto her knees, lifting herself up to a standing position. The man grabbed the side of the bed for support as he stood up.

Heather panicked, having no experience with these kinds of things. She ran forward before jump over him and, ungracefully, landed on the ground. She turned her head to look before rocketing forward and kicking down the door. She sprinted a short distance, looking back occasionally to check for the man, before knocking into someone holding a tray of beakers and test tubes. The sound of glass shattering filled her ears as she blinked away the shock of falling. Quickly, Heather scrambled to her feet, grabbing a large piece of broken glass to use as a weapon against the person she ran into. "Bruce?" She nearly yelled when she saw the man's face. Heather dropped the piece of glass on the floor and helped her dad up, holding him steady by softly grabbing his elbows. "I'm fine." He shook her off, swatting his hands. "It's nice to see you awake." He chuckled.

"Bruce, Bruce! Your daughter ran aw- Oh you found her." The man from before ran in, screaming. He looked uneasily at Heather, but smiled when his focus shifted to his friend.

"I think she found me," Bruce chuckled again, sweeping up the broken glass with his shoe with no results.

Heather looked in between the two, confused. "Wait; are we still in the tower? Why did it feel like a hospital? Why was I all hooked up on IV's and shit."

Bruce frowned at the curse word, "Language," he sternly voiced and Heather rolled her eyes, "Okay, 1. We are in the tower, a medical wing, and 3. You passed out, and I didn't want to take any risks. So we 'hooked you up on IV's and…'" He pursed his lips and nodded his head in an unsuccessful attempt to stall while he searched for a better word, "stuff."

"Then who's that?" She motioned over to the bearded man that she escaped earlier.

"You seriously don't know?" The man stuck out his bottom lip to pout before continuing, "Maybe this will help you." The man rolled his head before striking a heroic pose. He glanced over to Heather and Bruce, distraught. "Really, Nothing!?" He frowned. "I'm Tony Stark," he grumbled, holding out a lazy hand to her.

Heather gasped, causing Bruce to jump. "Oh yeah! I saw you on the news a couple years ago!" Tony rolled his eyes, retracting his hand. "SO yeah, Brucey, we need to talk about that there daughter of yours. She assaulted me! I bend over to pick up the IV, right, like a good nurse, and I feel this elbow slam in my lower back. I fell, of course, and I look up only to see your daughter jump over me and ran out of this place like there's a serial killer in there."

Heather looked at the ground. "All I'm saying is that you need to get that checked out." She bites her quivering lip. "And maybe enroll in a gymnastics class. I was unimpressed with your jump, and especially your landing." Heather cracked a smile, looking up again.

"Well… Let's go eat. I think Bruce has endured enough stress today. Lucky for you, he has this under control." Tony motioned for them to follow, "And then after, I'll give you a nice little tour of the tower before we show you where you'll be staying." He winked, clicking his tongue.

Heather looked up at Bruce with hopeful eyes, "Does that mean?" She whispered. He nodded, smiling. "But we're going to have to talk about what happened a little bit ago sometime, you can never guess the extremity of something when Tony's explaining it."

* * *

When they all boarded the elevator, something hit Heather. "My bags! I left them in the lab." She hurried out of the elevator, Tony calling out the floor number of the main kitchen, so she could meet them when she got the bags. The doors closed, leaving Heather alone to search for her bags. _Where had Tony and Bruce put them?_

She searched all around the lab, tore apart the bed, and even began to pick the locks of some of the cabinets. _Why would Tony hide them? _She did a quick 360 of the room. Just before she gave up, something by the window caught her eye. The curtains seemed to move. Slowly, Heather tip-toed up to them, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes before yanking them open. She opened one eye, looking to the ground. Sure enough there was her suitcase, and on top of it her purse.

Heather merrily slung her purse on her arm, both shaking off the suspenseful feeling she has experienced before and extending the suitcase handle, her eyes trailing up as it did. That's when she screamed.

Written on the window was "Thought you could hide?" but what really stopped her heart was the sadistic smile in the outside corner, the eyes filled to the brim with insanity, the face of someone she has hoped she would never see again. The face disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Heather trying to remember how to breathe. Tears trailed down her face and her knuckles where white from grabbing the handle too hard.

* * *

**A/N: I know, I'm terrible. I don't update very often, mostly because I'm in all stupid AP classes. But I will never give up on this story. **

**Anywho, I promise I'll be quicker with the future updates. So, for the last paragraph, I have had Slender-man and Jeff the Killer like permanently etched in my brain, so the image for his face is something like Jeff.**

**Maybe I'm just a wimp, but that scared me after a couple hours of seeing it everywhere. **

**R&R :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Heather stood there, her breath caught in her throat. She tightened her grip on the suitcase, staring out the window, eyes glazed over. _How had he found me?_ She swallowed the lump in her throat, closing her eyes. She slowly breathed in and out of her nose. _1, 2, 3, 4… _She counted until her heart was at a steady pace. Slowly, she opened one eye, checking for any sign of the lunatic she recently had the misfortune of encountering. There was nothing. She opened her other eye, loosening her grip on the handle and letting some blood go back into her purple hand.

As if on cue, her stomach growled, reminding her that she had not eaten for a couple days. She dragged the bags behind as she forced her legs to carry her to the elevator. The doors opened and she slipped in, pressing the button for the floor Tony had told her. She could use a break from all this drama, even if it was for an hour or so.

Heather stepped off of the elevator, the smell of delicate spices and what seemed like red meat hit her almost instantly, whisking her away to the source of the smell. When she walked in the room, she caught sight of Bruce, just as he rounded a corner. "Dad!" she called after him, half-skipping as she followed him, pretending nothing had happened.

"That smells amazing, Pepper, really. Do you think you could send a plate to my lab?"  
"Really Tony? Honestly, you can survive one dinner."  
"I don't know if I can. I could get bored really easily." No one likes Tony when he's bored. He always knew someone's secrets, and he always, _always_ spilled the beans.  
"I know you wouldn't, because if you're a good boy during this dinner, I'll-"Pepper stopped to whisper in Tony's ear, his face the embodiment of excitement.  
"Get a room!" Clint yelled, mentally patting himself on the back when he noticed the almost miniscule twitch of Natasha's lips. That was about as close as anyone got with making her smile. "So, you're the big man's daughter?" he continued.  
"Uh, yeah." Heather nodded, sipping nervously at her water. She looked over at Bruce, who was looking at her. Their eyes connected and he smiled, genuinely. "It was kind of a surprise," he turned his attention to the table of his teammates, "She just showed up last week, told me I was her father. Of course, I didn't believe her. I don't really remember much with Sarah though, so I didn't one-hundred percent doubt her." He paused to take a bite of steak, "I figured it'd be best to send her out of harm's way, living with The Avengers is a pretty dangerous thing," _ Living with me, _he thought. _Living with the Hulk._ "But then she had some kind of a panic attack or something in the elevator, blacked out, all that jazz." Everyone gave him unsure looks. "All that jazz?" Heather coughed out, holding back some laughter. Tony soon joined her, claiming he was going to bust a gut. "Honestly, Bruce, 'all that jazz'?" Clint chuckled.

When all the laughing had calmed down, and Bruce told the rest of the story, Steve decided to speak up. "It's very hazardous to have your daughter here, Banner." His face was serious, his tone stern. Steve wasn't playing around today.

"Actuall-"Bruce began, only to be cut off by Tony.  
"Look, Rogers" Tony stood up abruptly, holding onto the side of the table" you can be all Captain 'The Shit' on the helicarrier, when you actually are our captain. But this is my tower, and that is my science bro's daughter. We don't need you to be worrying Bruce about the Hu- The other guy, because I am one-hundred and _TEN_ percent sure that he has played out every scenario in his head."  
"That is not what I meant Stark."  
"I'm sorry, that's what it sounded like, right Pep?"  
"Tony, sit down." Pepper snapped.  
"Tony, I can handle this conversation myself," Bruce stated. Six months with these guys and they still treated him like he was some kind of animal. Bruce felt something on his arm, and looked over to see Heather's hand there. She gave him a sympathetic look and a weak smile. Bruce looked at her for a second, his eyes scanning over her features. She had sullen eyes, the dark circles were especially obvious today. Her bottom lip was chapped to no extent, probably due from her nervous tick of biting it. She was paler, more worn than she normally was. Her hair looked less shiny. Heather carried herself like it was a chore. He could tell from when she held his arm, she still shook. When she followed him earlier, she could barely lift up her legs, even her head began to droop to one side, the lack of will in her overwhelming. But none of that compared to her eyes. In her eyes, Bruce could read everything. They were wet, tears brimming. Although she smiled, her eyes showed nothing but pain, fear, and anxiety. The normal soft brown was more of a worn, dirty brown. Something was up with her.  
"Heather, are you okay?" Natasha broke Bruce's train of thought.  
"What?" She looked up from her shoes, "Oh, yeah. I'm good." Pepper walked in again (_When did Steve and Tony quit fighting? When did Pepper leave? _ Heather thought) holding a very large cake. "I understand that our Asgardian friend will be visiting later tonight, so I made sure to make the cake serve two hundred this time." She set the cake on the table, fixing a flyaway piece of hair. The cake was beautifully decorated with white butter cream frosting, and various rainbow colored fondant dots.  
"It's kind of a little 'Welcome to the Family' present I ordered for you, Heather." She smiled, her eyes pleading for acceptance from the teen.  
"Wow, it's uh- you really didn't have to do this."  
"Nonsense, now let's dig in before Thor demolishes this." Pepper began cutting a small piece.  
Bruce allowed Heather a night to calm down, get some rest, and get arranged. But tomorrow, he was going to have a talk with her, because something was up with her. Something peculiar.

**A/N: OHMYGOSH. Another update? Paige, you Cray.**

**Yes, I am. It's okay, Darlings. **

**R&R**


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